Wildlife Woes

[Stacy]

Do you ever wish for just one moment that you didn't have dogs? I mean, I love the dogs like they're my kids. I wouldn't be able to survive life without dogs. Because of that I think sometimes I forget that they aren't in fact little children in fur suits. But then they do something that makes me remember...

 

My love of animals extends to all my backyard friends. I’m the critter girl.

Sometimes the squirrels drive me nuts when they dig up my flowers. But they’re so cute when they play together. They tease the dogs and they always make me laugh when they yell at us. I know there are a few chipmunks around here, though I rarely see them, but the rabbits seem half tame. They let me walk right up to them before they run off. I want the girls to love the furries they share the yard with, but instead they love to eat them. When I chose doodles prey drive was not one of the boxes I was trying to check off.

 

In the last week Ava came to the door with a squirrel tail hanging out of her mouth like it was a literal toy. Now, that squirrel wasn’t freshly dead. So I think it died of other causes and Ava just found it. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) Then it stormed last week and Katie found a baby bird that she snuck into the house and proudly took to my bed. And tonight is the worst. The absolute worst.

 

Here it is, midnight. I just got home from work. It was a busy evening. I fed the girls and we went outside. I was minding my own business scrolling through facebook on the porch when I hear this… crying. It didn’t register for a second, but then I realized, oh no the girls have something. The next thing you know I’m running around the backyard barefoot, by the light of my cellphone flashlight screaming like a lunatic. I can only imagine that my neighbors think I’m insane.

 

I see Ava drop something and I called her to come with me, and then I found Katie and I saw another one. And I’m begging them to come back inside with me. They were actually pretty cooperative considering how excited they were with their find.

 

I got them into the screen porch and was about to go look for the problem when I realize that the crying is now coming from inside with the dogs. I couldn’t see anything, but it only took a second to figure out that the crying was coming from inside Ava’s mouth. I pulled her mouth open and a baby bunny fell out.

 

A teeny tiny baby bunny that was still naked. It nuzzled into my hand and shirt like I was it’s mommy. I’m pretty sure that I’m in love with this bunny and want it to have a spot in the bed with the dogs. It was pretty active and it didn’t have any visible injuries. I made the girls stay inside while I’m out searching the backyard – again, by cellphone light. I managed to find the nest, and the second baby bunny that didn’t fare as well. I took that one out and put the one that seemed okay back into the nest. It burrowed back in. I didn’t see more, but maybe there were siblings in there for it to cuddle with – I didn’t want to disturb them if they were there. It’s like Operation Wildlife over here. I think there should be a version of 911 for animals. I would have called it an ambulance. But since there isn’t, I hope I did the right thing. I hope the mommy comes back. I wanted to keep it, but I’m pretty sure I am ill equipped to keep a newborn bunny alive.

 

Now the dilemma is that the dogs know they’re there. How am I going to ever keep them away from that nest? And why on earth would the bunny pick my yard to have her babies? My nextdoor neighbor has a perfectly good yard and no pets to go on a bunny killing spree. I feel like I’m harboring two felons. Do I need to turn them in for assault? I keep telling them how naughty they are, but I’m pretty sure they think I’m telling them that they’re pretty.

 

I accept the dogs for who they are. I know these are the things that dogs do (but for the record, Papillons do not do things like this!) I just wish someone would explain to them that they are supposed to act more like little furry people and less like murdering heathens. I’m not sure how much backyard homicide I can take!!

Does anyone else have this issue? Better yet, has anyone else solved this issue? I feel like they need a class in loving their neighbors. I also wonder if we had a bunny of our own that the dogs would understand that it was part of the family and they couldn’t hurt it. Because now I really want a bunny to join our family!

 

[Amy and Annabelle]

I lived in Colorado for 30 years, and we had rattlesnakes. I have a daughter that still lives there and she saw one on a hike on Fathers Day. I always miss Colorado until I hear snake stories. 

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Oh my goodness, I feel your pain! The first time I heard (yes, heard!) Winnie catch a baby bunny, I thought, "Hmmm, I wonder what kind of squeaky toy she found in the back yard..." The poor little think was squealing just like a squeaky toy. Ack! She was NOT going to give it up, either. When I told her "Drop!" she looked at me like I was crazy. By the time I got it out of her mouth, the poor thing had truly lost it's squeaker..... 

Baby birds, baby bunnies, and adult bunnies have all found their demise in our yard. For the person that mentioned how bunnies can die from fright, it's true... I witnessed it! :-(  A full grown rabbit had found it's way into my garden that is protected by 2 stretched out X Pens. (The X Pens keep the dogs out from trampling on seedlings, but don't always keep little critters out.) The bunny was already in there when I let the dogs outside... Bob promptly saw him and barked at him...and instead of running away the bunny froze. By the time I got over to the garden, the bunny had toppled over and was no longer breathing.....

[Stacy]

RIP little bunny foo-foos. I tried so hard to keep you alive, but the girls really wanted to have you for dinner. Maybe next time your mama should not give birth in the yard with the dogs. 

I need to make the dogs one of those shaming signs that says that they are serial bunny killers!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wonder if there is a Rainbow Bridge for rabbits. If so, it must be very crowded there.  ;)

[Stacy]

Oh Karen, you made me laugh so hard I snorted! It really was cute. Dead, but cute. But there were the teeny-tiniest ticks on it that I've ever seen. And now I'm freaked out that there are ticks in the yard. Because I needed something else to freak out about!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wanted to make you laugh, lol. You're handling this very well, no freaking out now!

This is why God created tick preventatives. 

(Forgive me, Lord.) 

[Stacy]

I am sorry that they're all dead, but I'm really glad that they didn't manage to eat any of them. I can just imagine them throwing up bunny guts in my bed. I'm not sure who would clean that up. There is a limit and I think that might be it. 

Bravecto for the win! But I might be itchy forever anyway. 

The new thing to worry about is that Ava's mouth tumor is growing back. She's having surgery on Tuesday. Poor kid can't catch a break. But I think I feel better knowing that we waited, and it really does have to be done. The dentist keeps reassuring me that this is pretty straightfoward. I don't fel like cutting off half her face can possibly be straightforward, but I guess it's reassuring that he thinks so. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I hope the surgery goes well. JD and I will be thinking of Ava and you on Tuesday. JD says to tell Ava that he will also be having a miserable day Tuesday, as he's going to the groomer, and JD would rather have surgery than a bath. :D

[Stacy]

Ava would trade for the bath. She just had one today. It's not her favorite thing but she's such a good girl. She's so soft when she's blow dried. But she and I both get bored before she's all the way dry. 2/3rds is about as good as it gets.

[Amy and Annabelle]

Your bunnies died and my bird and eggs disappeared. Not very happy endings. 

[Stacy]

It's really not. I thought the last bunny was going to make it. It was growing nicely, looked healthy. I had blocked off the nest, but I kept checking on it. Then I took my eyes off Katie for one second and she broke in and more bunny screaming. It didn't look injured, and I thought I saved it and put it back in the nest, and then 30 minutes later I went back to check on it and it was gone. Just gone. And I was going to write a whole post on the mystery of the disappearing bunny, but first I took Ava for a bath. When I got home I let the girls out and took the ex-pen down - because the bunny was gone. Apparently it had left the nest and hopped over by the fence where the dogs promptly found it - and that part didn't have a happy ending. I was so close to having that bunny raised. I always have good intentions but I'm not very good at wildlife rescue. I just really hope the dumb bunny doesn't have babies in my yard again!

[Amy and Annabelle]

I have no idea what happened to the bird and eggs. My Hibiscus plant was still standing, there was no sign of carnage. I cried when I found out my husband threw out the nest. He doesn't understand how attached I get to these critters. Don't even get me started on the baby deer. We had one that lived on our property and would sleep by our back door or under a tree. I would get up in the morning and see her licking the door glass. Then one day she was just gone and I never saw her again. We never fed her or tried to domesticate her. She was on her own. At first she had a mom and sibling, don't know what happened to them.